In this chapter, you will: Learn how to create and manipulate your own simple data type—called the enumeration type; become familiar with the typedef statement; learn about the namespace mechanism; explore the string data type, and learn how to use the various string functions to manipulate strings.

Historically, a course on data structures has been a mainstay of most computer
science departments. Over the last 18 years, however, the focus of this course
has broadened considerably. The topic of data structures has now been subsumed
under the broader topic of abstract data types (ADTs)—the study of classes of
objects whose logical behavior is defined by a set of values and a set of operations.

Oracle allows you to define your own object data types, which you can use for creating objects, discussed in detail in Chapter 21, “Object Relational Interactions with Oracle.” Oracle also includes specialized data types for working with XML, spatial data, and media data, as well as ways to access type descriptions when the data type is not known.

The data type of a variable is important because it determines the operations that are allowed and the
range of values that can be stored. C++ defines several types of data, and each type has unique
characteristics. Because data types differ, all variables must be declared prior to their use, and a variable
declaration always includes a type specifier. The compiler requires this information in order to generate
correct code. In C++ there is no concept of a “type-less” variable.

Relational databases, the heart of storing and processing data in the enterprise for over
30 years, are no longer the only game in town. The past seven years have seen the birth
—and in some cases the death—of many alternative data stores that are being used in
mission-critical enterprise applications. These new data stores have been designed
specifically to solve data access problems that relational database can’t handle as
effectively.
An example of a problem that pushes traditional relational databases to the breaking
point is scale.

MySQL 5 is slated to be the most significant release in the products history. The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5, Third Edition is the newest revision of Michael Koflers popular book. This is the first book to offer in-depth instruction about the new features of the world's most popular open source database server. Updated to reflect changes in MySQL version 5, this book will expose you to MySQL's impressive array of new features: views, stored procedures, triggers, and spatial data types.

At the core of a programming language are its data types and operators. These elements define the limits of a language and determine the kind of tasks to which it can be applied. As you might expect, C++ supports a rich assortment of both data types and operators, making it suitable for a wide range of programming. Data types and operators are a large subject. We will begin here with an examination of C++’s foundational data types and its most commonly used operators. We will also take a closer look at variables and examine the expression....

This module returns to the topics of data types and operators. In addition to the data types that you
have been using so far, C++ supports several others. Some of these consist of modifiers added to the
types you already know about. Other data types include enumerations and typedefs. C++ also provides
several additional operators that greatly expand the range of programming tasks to which C++ can be
applied. These operators include the bitwise, shift, ?, and sizeof operators.

A variable declared with the const modifier cannot have its value changed during the execution of your program. Thus, a const “variable” isn’t really variable! You can give a variable declared as const an initial value, however. For example, const int max_users = 9; creates an int variable called max_users that contains the value 9. This variable can be used in expressions like any other variable, but its value cannot be modified by your program.